Kevin Eastman

(b. 30 May 1962, USA)

Kevin Eastman was born in 1962 in Portland, Maine to Sandra and Kim Eastman. His childhood was spent in the tiny hill town of Groville, Maine, where he grew up with his three sisters, Marlene, Judy and Maryann. An inherited talent, Kevin began drawing as soon as he was able to hold a crayon. The eventual discovery of comic books gave meaning to his crazed doodling. Basically a self-taught artist, Kevin studied mainly from the school of comics - Jack Kirby, Russ Heath and John Severin were his early favorites, before he moved on to the more unusual styles of Richard Corben and Vaughn Bode when he reached high school.

Kevin's first published work appeared in Clay Geerdes' Comix Wave and Brad Foster's 'Goodies' mini-comics in 1980-81. In 1982, fate brought Kevin to Northampton, Massachusetts where he met Peter Laird. This artistic friendship led to the formation of Mirage Studios in 1983 and the creation of the 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' shortly thereafter.

Kevin married the girl of his dreams, actress Julie Strain. He is currently working on several new projects and is the owner/publisher of the popular comic magazine Heavy Metal.